Putin’s ‘hidden hand’ lies behind Iran’s drone tactics, UK defence secretary says | Iran
British Defense Minister John Healey said that Vladimir Putin’s “hidden hand” lies behind Iran’s military methods, after the night when unmanned aerial vehicles hit a camp used by western forces in Erbil, Northern Iraq.
Healy was speaking after British officers at Britain’s military headquarters in north-west London told him that Iranian and Iranian proxy drone pilots were increasingly adopting tactics from “the Russians”.
Iran has already fired more than 2,000 Shahed drones, long-range weapons used extensively by Russia against Ukraine in the Middle East, in response to the US-Israeli offensive launched on February 28.
Joint operations chief Lt. Gen. Nick Perry told Healey that Russia has since been seen passing tactical advice to Iran and its proxies on how to put them to flight.
Iranian drone pilots are now flying them “much lower, so they are more effective at hitting targets,” Perry said. He said this was “problematic” because Shahed drones were becoming one of Tehran’s most effective weapons as the conflict approached its third week.
Overnight, a number of drones hit a western military camp in Erbil housing British military personnel. A counter-drone team from the United Kingdom shot down two more people there. There were no British casualties.
Speaking to reporters after the briefing, Healey said: “I don’t think it would surprise anyone to believe that Putin’s hidden hand is behind some of Iran’s tactics and, potentially, some of its capabilities.”
He argued that this was partly because “the only world leader currently benefiting from sky-high oil prices is Putin, providing him with new funding for his brutal war in Ukraine.”
Russia and Iran have cooperated on military matters since Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine in 2022; Iran handed over the supply and design of the Shahed 136 delta-wing unmanned aerial vehicle. US sources say that in return, Moscow passed military intelligence to Tehran over the past two weeks, which the Kremlin denies.
Healey said he had discussed effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz with the E5 group of European defense ministers on Wednesday, and there were “increasingly clear” reports that Iran was trying to mine the strategic waterway through which about a fifth of the world’s oil supply passes.
Britain had some “autonomous systems” that could be used to search for Iranian mines in the Middle East, but the minesweeper HMS Middleton, which had previously been in the region, had returned to Britain for maintenance.
The effective closure of the strait, in part by drone attacks on oil tankers and cargo ships, has pushed the price of oil to around $100 per barrel. Healey said the quickest way to end the blockade would be “de-escalation of the conflict.”
He did not rule out Britain eventually joining a possible convoy to transport commercial shipping through the waterway, but a formal offer is not thought to be imminent as the US remains hesitant on the issue.
Britain has no existing warships in or near the area, apart from HMS Dragon, which departed for Cyprus on Tuesday, where it will guard British air bases, for a journey expected to last up to a week.
